


a heartbreak's tale

by VerifiedFangurlXX



Category: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Jealousy, So much angst, That's it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerifiedFangurlXX/pseuds/VerifiedFangurlXX
Summary: Kagura glanced bitterly at the sight of Hayabusa and Hanabi conversing. This was supposed to be hers and Hayabusa's event, so why the hell was Hanabi getting to spend more time with the assassin? Her eyes widened as she witnessed the pair come closer to each other, as if they were about to kis- she looked away, into the eyes of the figher. She sighed."Yeah, Chou. I'd like to be your girlfriend."Alternatively, your typical Hayabusa, Kagura, Hanabi love triangle story, except with the addition of Chou, lots of angst, even more jealously, and a side dish of Lesley x Gusion.
Relationships: Gusion/Lesley (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang), Hayabusa/Kagura (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang), hayabusa/hanabi, kagura/chou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	1. one

Kagura frowned as she eyed the red stilettos that laid messily on the doorstep. As per their tradition, she had packed a filling bento set to share with her childhood friend, Hayabusa early in the morning. It was part of their daily routine - Kagura would wake up early in the morning, make a simple dish for the both of them before skipping over to Hayabusa's to have breakfast together. It had all begun years ago, when the mage found out that Hayabusa was way too focused on training and accomplishing his lifelong goal of defeating his clan's previous Shadow, and had been neglecting his own health and needs. Since then, Kagura took it upon herself to take care of his friend, and they both found themselves growing accustomed to the routine and looking forward to it every day. Of course, as a result, they had both gotten a lot closer and became the best of friends.

That particular tradition had not stopped even when the both of them had left home for the Land of Dawn. Startled by the voices from inside Hayabusa's dorm room that seemed to be moving towards the door, Kagura let out a soft gasp before darting about the corner.

"Thank you for letting me stay over. I'll be sure to check with the administrators to see if I could stay here permanently." A charming female voice rang out. 

Kagura perked up. A new member? They had been getting a lot of those lately, but this particular girl was definitely the first to have slept in the boys' part of the building - which was, against the rules.

"Anytime, Hanabi. It's good to see you again." Kagura recognised the voice of her best friend. The mage could only watch in despair as she peeked from behind the wall, only to see a raven-haired girl plant a kiss on her best friend's cheek.

"See you soon." The girl - Hanabi - smiled coyly, before stalking off in Kagura's direction. Kagura squeaked, hastily leaning against the wall for cover, only to carelessly drop the bento set all over the ground.

She scrambled to clean up everything, but it was too late. Hanabi was already rounding about the corner. She glanced at the pity sight of the mage on the ground, before scoffing. "God, you are so pathetic."

Kagura flinched. "Excuse me?" She calmly replied, though her cheeks burned in embarrassment. Her Seimei umbrella behind her sprang upright, alert and ready.

Hanabi didn't even bother to spare her another glance. She merely stalked off down the stairs. Kagura frowned, confused. _Where have I seen her before? She seems familiar._ Shaking her head to snap out of it, she hastily cleaned up. Her umbrella closed itself and flopped idly behind her.

There was no way she was about to show up at Hayabusa's now. For one, the food was ruined, and two, she doesn't think she could manage to act normal without bringing up Hanabi, whom she was incredibly curious about. She knew the assassin knew her way too well, and would probe her into telling him what's on her mind - she didn't want to make it awkward between the two of them. Throwing one last glance towards her best friend's room, she sighed softly before darting down the stairs.

That was the first time she'd broken the tradition.

-

"Kagura!" Lesley shrieked, flinging her arms around the paler girl. Kagura could only chuckled in amusement as she weakly hugged her friend back. As Kagura usually woke up earlier and was out of the dorm before Lesley even woke up, the two of them usually only conversed after breakfast.

The two of them shared a dorm together and had become really good friends from fighting in the battlefield together. "Gusion asked me out today - we're going to have dinner together after the match later!" The pink haired girl squealed in delight.

Catching onto her friend's enthusiasm, Kagura too broke out a huge smile. "That's awesome! You had the biggest crush on him for ages. It's about time, honestly"

Her friend fake gasped, "I do not!", before the both of them exploded into laughter. "Anyways," Lesley continued, after catching her breath, "what about you? How's it going with Mr Ninja?"

Kagura's smile dimmed. "Same as always, I guess." The beam in Lesley's face was instantly replaced by a look of concern. "What happened?"

"Nothing much," Kagura shrugged. "I just saw a girl leaving his dorm earlier, but I guess I was just overreacting?"

"What?! Isn't that against the rules? Who is it?" Lesley probed, her eyes widening by a fraction.

"I think she's new, that's why. Her name is Hanabi? But for some reason, from the way they interacted, it seems like Haya had met her before. I also can't shake the feeling that I know her from somewhere." Kagura explained, her eyes downcast.

"Hey," Lesley prompted softly, "I'm sure she's just a friend of Hayabusa's. You should talk to him, you know. Clear out any misunderstandings."

"I will, thanks" Kagura managed a small smile. She decided not to tell her friend about the kiss she saw. _That definitely was something friends don't do._

"You haven't had your breakfast, right?" Lesley asked, eyeing the bento set that was lying in the trashcan. Kagura shook her head. "Come on, to the cafeteria we go!"

-

With more and more heroes residing in the Land of Dawn over the years, the cafeteria too became more and more crowded. The pair of roommates sighed in disappointment as they joined the overwhelming long queue.

The cafeteria was noisy as the heroes chatted about. Kagura grinned as she saw Gusion stalking towards her and Lesley. She was happy for her friend - Gusion and Lesley really looked like they truly cared for each other and really made each other happy.

"Hey." Gusion smiled charmingly, his hand moving to sweep up his hair. Kagura knew her friend was swooning inwardly, as the latter muttered a similar greeting. Behind them, Kagura picked up on a rather loud conversation between Chang'e and Zilong.

"Is that the new hero that is going to be joining us? Wow, she's so pretty!" Chang'e gushed. Zilong could only agree as he added on, "Her name's Hanabi. She looks pretty intimate with Hayabusa, I wonder what's going on?"

"Honestly?" Bruno, from behind the pair joined in on the conversation. "If you ask me, the two of them look very compatible, with the whole red and black theme."

Kagura glanced in the direction of their gaze, only to see Hayabusa and Hanabi laughing as they weaved through the crowd to find a seat. _They look like they're having a good time._ Kagura dully noted. The discomfort in her chest only grew. Looks like Hanabi replaced her in their breakfast tradition, huh.

Lesley, sensing her distress, nudged her. "Hey, you okay?" Kagura looked up to find Lesley and Gusion sharing a worried look. _Great, now I'm third wheeling too._

She shook her head, trying her best to manage at least a half smile. "I'm fine. Look, I'm actually not hungry, so I head back to our room first. See you later." Turning on her heels, she hastily walked off before Lesley could argue.

She could feel hot tears in her eyes as she moved quickly. _God, why am I crying? Hanabi's right. I'm so pathetic._ Her intrusive thoughts only made her feel worse, and soon she was breaking into a run while her vision blurred with her tears.

"Oof!" She yelped as she felt herself crash into a hard rock. Strong arms steadied her before she could fall. "I am so sorry, are you okay?" A masculine voice that was laced with concern asked. She blinked back her tears, trying to get her vision to clear again as she glanced up.

Only, instead of the tears going back into her eyes, they rolled down her cheeks. She could only blush, embarrassed that she was crying in front of a stranger. "Yeah", she croaked, her voice breaking.

"Hey." The stranger looked at her. For some reason, she remain frozen there, in his arms, as she studied his facial features. The guy was undeniably attractive, with strong facial features, a muscular build and a tan. 

The stranger using his hand to brush away her tears had Kagura's cheeks blazing _red_. "Um, thanks?" she squeaked.

The stranger chuckled. "Anytime. My name's Chou, by the way. You're Kagura, right?"

Kagura could only nod. 

Chou grinned. "Wow, I've personally talked to one of the meta heroes - it's my dream come true!"

Kagura managed a small smile. "I'm honestly not that great - you're the popular one! People are always picking you in ranked matches." 

"And I was going for a humble first impression... damn it." Chou laughed. Kagura grinned back, liking the easygoing nature of the fighter.

"Well, I'll see you around?"

Kagura nodded, though in truth, she wasn't that sure if she would really meet him again. Her introverted nature caused her to stick with only one best friend throughout the years, and the only other person she could really call a friend in the Land of Dawn was Lesley - and that was because they were roommates. She mainly kept herself cooped up in her own room, or at Hayabusa's. 

She turned on her heel, ready to leave, when a strong hand grabbed her by the wrist. She glanced up at Chou. "Whatever it is that is making you upset, I hope it goes away soon." The guy started, his eyes glancing directly at hers. "You smiling is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen." 

With one last smirk and a wink, Chou was stalking away, leaving Kagura baffled in the hallways.


	2. two

"What was that!" Lesley gushed, jumping up and down on her bed. The latter winced as the mattress squeaked with the weight. "I totally saw that! Is something going on between you and Chou! God, and he isn't that bad looking either!"

Kagura groaned into her pillow. "I don't know," She muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow. Lesley giggled, throwing her own pillow at the roommate. "Well-"

A knock at the door cut her off mid sentence. Lesley glared at the door. "Who is it?" She yelled, irritated by the intrusion.

"It's Hayabusa." The voice responded. The marksman hopped off her bed, darting a glance at Kagura who sat up immediately.

"Well, do you want him in?"

Kagura shook her head violently. "No!" She whisper-shouted. There was too much going on in her head, she definitely doesn't know how she was going to handle acting normal with Hayabusa. Especially not since the night before, when she realized (thanks to Lesley), that she had a big fat crush on her best friend.

"Kagura's sick." Lesley called out to the door, shooting a wink at her friend. "I think it's better if you leave to let her rest."

The white-haired mage was impressed by how easily her friend lied. She was just about to promise to get Lesley another one of those tiny potted plants that she loved. That is, until Hayabusa called right back, "I'll just see her for a moment, alright? I want to make sure she's okay."

Eyes widening, Kagura hopped quickly under the covers, turning over to the other side such that her back was facing Hayabusa when he came in. She cursed as she accidentally knocked her head against the bed post, silently berating herself for being so clumsy all the time.

"Alright, make it quick." She heard Lesley say, before the door clicked open. She heard the familiar light footsteps making their way towards her and she held in her breath.

"How sick is she?" Hayabusa asked, his voice full of worry. Kagura's heart clenched as she recognized the tone. It was the very same one that he had when she twisted her ankle when she was 8 years old, and he had to carry her home on his back. He'd spent the next few weeks fussing over her, even after she had completely healed. Kagura managed a tiny smile at the memory.

"Sick enough." Lesley retorted. 

The mage almost let out a laugh at her friend's antics. Lesley was really not having any of the assassin's bullshit today. She was really thankful for a friend that really had her back, no matter what - guess she'll get Lesley that potted plant after all. 

Kagura held in a breath as she felt a warm touch linger on her forehead. As if relieved that she wasn't having a fever, she heard her best friend let out a soft sigh. Then, the hand moved gently upwards, caressing her hair.

She'd almost leaned into the touch.

She would have, if not for the loud crash of the door being flung open. The hand disappeared immediately, and she suddenly felt cold without the touch.

"Chou!" Kagura heard her friend greet excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you mentioned that Kagura wasn't feeling too well, and that she missed breakfast, so I got some food from the canteen for her." The fighter replied. "How is she?"

"She missed breakfast?" Hayabusa cut in before Lesley could reply. Kagura frowned at the unfamiliar edge in his voice. She rolled over, pretending to stifle a yawn - it was impossible to continue to pretend to be asleep any longer, especially not after the loud crash of the door.

She faked surprise at seeing everyone in her room. "Oh! Hey guys." Instantly, everyone's attention was on her.

"How are you feeling?" Hayabusa was the first to ask, his hand instinctively reaching to grab hers. Kagura grinned back at him, tightening her grip on his hand - a gesture she always did to let him know she's alright. "Hungry," She admitted sheepishly.

"Well, I have just the right thing for you. You like sushi, don't you?" Chou called out cheerfully, his hand raised with a package of the aforementioned food in it.

The mage smiled earnestly back at the fighter. "I definitely do not hate sushi, for sure."

She dismissed the curling of Hayabusa's other fist. "Since when did you guys got to know each other?" He bristled. "Just now, actually." Chou was quick to reply, a huge grin stretched across his lips. "I'd say we really _connected_." He wiggled his eyebrows at the mage, mocking the disastrous state that she was in when they met earlier.

"Oh, shut it." Kagura retorted, flicking her fingers upwards as she glared at the fighter jokingly. Behind her, her Seimei umbrella sparked to life, floating threateningly in bright blue. She laughed as Chou spluttered an apology, with his hands up in surrender.

She ignored the heated gaze Hayabusa was directing towards her, instead gesturing for Chou to come join her on her bed with the food.

She missed the look exchanged between the two men as Chou sat down across her on the bed. Kagura gleefully rubbed her hands together at the sight of her favorite food, hurriedly grabbing the pair of chopsticks that Lesley was handing towards her. As she stuffed sushi into her mouth, she glanced up to see Hayabusa standing up to leave. "Where are you going?" She asked with a mouthful of food.

Hayabusa shot a strained grin back at her. "I'm going to train. With Hanabi. I'll see you later?"

_Oh._ Kagura nodded back.

-

"Rise and shine!" Lesley chirped as she flung open the curtains, letting sunlight enter their room - directly at Kagura's face. The mage groaned in annoyance, turning over to the other side while simultaneously using her pillow to cover her face.

"Sorry, I had to. I rarely wake up earlier than you! You know that." Lesley said, while pulling her hair into her signature braid. "Besides, it's not my fault you stayed up late talking to Chou on the phone about God-knows-what." Once she was done with her hair, the marksman hopped violently onto Kagura's bed, crashing into the latter's small frame. "Come on, wake up! You're usually already at Haya's at this time. He's going to be worried."

Oh, Kagura sat up straight. She squinted at the clock that hung on the wall above the many potted plants that the marksman loved to take care of. "What time is it?" She groggily asked.

Before Lesley could answer, however, a loud knock sounded on their door. Instantly, the marksman squealed as she leap to her feet. "I think it's Gusion! He invited me out to breakfast together. Quick, how do I look?"

"Amazing, like always." Kagura stifled a yawn, eyeing the clock that seemed to state that it was already 10 in the morning. Which, was impossible. The mage couldn't remember the last time she had woken up later than 9 on a good day.

She heard Lesley open the door enthusiastically. "Hey! I wasn't expecting you to come so early- oh. What are _you_ doing here?" Kagura glanced towards the door, curious as to who it could be, if not Gusion.

It was Chou.

The mage gulped. "Well, I figured I'd bring breakfast over since Kagura had sounded so tired last night." She heard the fighter say.

"Wow, that's really considerate of you." Lesley remarked, a small smirk forming on her face as she crossed her arms. She watched as the fighter made his way into the room, before raising her eyebrows at Kagura. The latter shot her a fierce glare in respond.

Lesley shrugged, turning back to presumably close the door, before her eyes lit up delightfully. "Gusion! You're here!"

Kagura rolled her eyes at her friend as she scooted over to make room for the fighter. "God, she's like a cheerleader. Is it even possible for anyone to be this hyper in the morning?" She muttered as she stretched.

Chou chuckled while he sat down and began opening up their breakfast in her bed. "I guess you're not too much of a morning person, huh?"

"I mean, I'm always up early in the morning to make breakfast for Hayabusa - because the guy does not know how to take care of himself, I swear. But it's more of a routine, you know? It's like our little tradition since we were kids. I honestly would sleep in every day if not for it." The mage explained.

Chou nodded in understanding. "But you're not there this morning?" He glanced up at her curiously.

Kagura shrugged. "It's all been very weird lately - I told you all about the new girl last night. I think yesterday might be the first time we didn't follow our usual routine." She tried to play it cool, but she ducked her face downwards as she blushed, remembering their late night conversation last night over the phone. She didn't think she would be able to connect with someone so quickly, but Chou was _so_ easy to talk to. And he mostly understood her predicament. He also had a good heart and was so kind, if his stories of how he saved and looked after an old monk were any indication. 

"Hey, it's all going to be alright." Chou reassured her, handing her a pair of chopsticks. "You guys have been friends forever. It'll work out in the end." He paused, before his signature grin made its way onto his face. "On a much lighter note, you just gave me an idea to pitch a suggestion to the administrators."

Kagura raised her eyebrows. "What idea?"

"How do you think Lesley would like a cheerleader skin? I say we name it Cheergunner."

The mage burst out into fits of laughter. "Wow. That's actually not a bad idea. I think she'd love it." She smiled genuinely up at the fighter.

Chou beamed back at her.

-

"I was thinking we could take away breakfast and have it in the flower garden?" Gusion suggested, before he took out a rose from who-knows-where and presented it to Lesley, who gleefully accepted it.

"Oh! The flower garden that Kagura's crazy about? I actually haven't been there before. Let's do it." Lesley replied as she admired the flower in her hand. It was embarrassing to admit that her heart was beating erratically fast just because of such a small yet sweet gesture.

Turning around to push the door shut, her smile got bigger as she felt Gusion casually slip his hand into hers - and she was about to explode right there on the spot - when she spotted a familiar figure. "Hayabusa! What are you doing here?"

"Hey. I'm just here to check on Kagura. She didn't come over this morning, is she still really sick?" Even with his mask on, the marksman could easily spot the telltale signs of worry in the assassin's eyes.

"Well, she's inside," Lesley answered, pulling the door back open, only to see her friend laughing loudly - with Chou. _Ah._

The marksman didn't know what to do as she witnessed Hayabusa look past her at the scene that was unfolding before their eyes. While Kagura bust into another uncontrollable fit of laughter, Chou merely grinned widely at her, as if awestruck by the mage. 

Feeling her crush's hand tighten around hers, she sighed. Through Gusion, she too was aware of the feelings Hayabusa had for her friend - which Hayabusa was too caught up in his mission to take out the former Shadow to acknowledge. She turned to the assassin, about to slip out an apology when she saw another female figure saunter her way towards Hayabusa.

Lesley's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Haya! Come on, let's go train together." Hanbi cheerfully called out, her hand moving to grab Hayabusa's.

The pink-haired marksman glared daggers as she saw Hayabusa cast one last glance at his childhood friend, before allowing himself to be dragged away by the newest addition to the Land of Dawn. 

Gusion breathed out. "Wow."

Beside him, Lesley cursed. "This is not going to end well, is it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well i hope you guys like it so far! i honestly have so many ideas for the plot i'm about to combust ;)


	3. three

[ _A few weeks later..._ ]

Kagura awoke to the loud sound of pots clanking. Immediately sitting upright, her eyes narrowed into slits as she looked around quickly for the potential threat. Beside her, her Seimei umbrella sprung alive and alert, ready to attack on command - only to close itself up and settle gently back on her bedside table when the mage realized it was only her room mate. Causing a ruckus early in the morning. Again.

"Lesley..." Kagura groaned, ready to plant her face back into her pillow. Ever since her encounter with Chou a few weeks back, her little tradition with a certain childhood friend had faded into something of the past. She no longer woke up in the wee mornings for Hayabusa - and while she appreciated getting more sleep, she was also uncomfortable with how long it had been since she last spoke with her best friend - if they were even still considered best friends.

Hey! You can't blame me." The marksman threw her arms up in surrender. "It's been ages since we last fought alongside each other in battle! And with Gusion, too!"

_Wait, what?_ Kagura sat back right up. Realization dawned upon her as she reached for her phone that laid beside her trusty umbrella, only to see a new notification pop up.

The Land of Dawn was a place for heroes across the world to gather and train for whatever it is they needed to train for. Over the years, the place had become well known across the globe for the many facilities it offered to hone the skills of many heroes - the most infamous of which, was the ranked matches. In the Land of Dawn, heroes with varying roles - from tanks, mages, and marksmen to fighters, assassins and supports are able to gather and fight against each other in teams of five to better their skills in order to accomplish whatever goal they had in mind. 

The place also took good care of its heroes, with the administrators - the people in charge of the place - constantly welcoming new heroes from all walks of life, providing new looks for its heroes and even providing new facilities and places for its heroes to train at and live in. For instance, the latest event that many heroes was raving excitedly about, was death battle.

How the place worked, was that the administrators would randomly pick heroes to fight in ranked matches. The heroes will know that their presence were needed in a match through a system text that the administrators would send to each heroes, which would indicate the hero's teammates, as well as the time and place. 

When the heroes were not needed in a ranked match however, they were free to do as they pleased - aka the usual things that people normally did, like date, eat, sleep, read and more. Of course, if they were adamant on honing their skill sets, they could opt for a friendlier battle of classic matches and brawl matches.

There was also the "meta hero" list, which was updated every week. It would consist of ten heroes. The list would be based on mainly ranked matches, to see which heroes truly shone and deserved recognition for their efforts. It was an honor to be on the list.

At the moment, our protagonist Kagura had just received a message from the systems that she was picked to fight in a ranked match alongside her room mate, Gusion, Minotaur and last but not least, Chou. 

Eyes widening, Kagura hurriedly tapped on the 'accept invitation' button that would confirm her presence. She barely had time to toss her phone back onto her bedside table before Lesley engulfed her with a spine-shattering hug - which was accompanied by an excited squeal.

"Wait, are you excited that we're battling together, or that you get to fight alongside Gusion?" Kagura eyed her friend suspiciously. "I will be very upset if it was the latter."

"Both!" Lesley cheerfully replied, before grinning wickedly back. "What about you, huh?" 

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." The white-haired mage feigned ignorance as she glanced back innocently.

"Please! You don't seriously think that I haven't caught you sneaking text messages with him in the middle of the night?" Lesley scoffed as she detached herself from the embrace and hopped off the bed. "At least you guys were kind enough to stop with the late night calls. All the secretive whispering were really doing my sleep schedule injustice."

"Come on! He's just a friend." 

Lesley paused, a watering can in her hand. She turned back to look at her friend with a withering look, all the while silently placing her other hand on her hips.

Kagura glared back with the same intensity.

The marksman raised her eyebrows, while Kagura's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Alright fine!" The mage was the first to admit defeat. (She silently reminded herself to never challenge Lesley in another stare-off again - she always lost.) "I think I might like him a tiny bit." She huffed as she caught her friend rolling her eyes. "I don't know, okay! He's just so nice and friendly - it's impossible to not like him."

"But do you like _like_ him?" Lesley called back as she turned to water her beloved succulents while she hummed along to a song.

"That's the thing. I don't know. Between Chou and Hayabusa and Hanabi... I don't know how to feel or what to think."

Lesley shot her friend a sympathetic look. "That's fine. You'll figure it out eventually." She put down her watering can with a satisfied sigh. "Right now, all we have to do is get down to the battle and kick ass!"

Kagura laughed. She couldn't agree more. Between her whirlpool of feelings and confused thoughts, a battle was exactly what she needed to keep herself grounded.

-

"Are you kidding me."

"Hey, it's fine." Lesley grabbed her friend by the hands. "So what if we were fighting against them? You know feelings are off limits in the battlefield. Just keep your mind focused on winning, alright? We got this."

Kagura sighed, eyeing the attendance list that showed who her team was fighting against. Namely, Hylos, Harith (whom she had never heard of), Terizla, _Hayabusa, Hanabi._. She could not think of a more awkward situation than _this._

Beside her, Gusion nodded encouragingly at her, before turning to Lesley. "I gotta say, I really love this Cheergunner skin the administrators got you." He grinned at her.

The pink-haired marksman blushed a crimson red, before winking back. "I could say the same about your hairstylist skin."

"Can you believe the both of them aren't dating yet?" A familiar voice sounded behind Kagura. The mage turned around, only to meet her team's fighter. "Chou!" She greeted with a chuckle. "I know, right? All this flirting is making me nauseous. Not to mention jealous."

"Jealous? Why, you want someone to flirt with, too?" The fighter asked with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Ugh, as if! I'm just a _little_ envious that they both got new skins. It probably sounds ridiculous, but I'm getting kind of tired this flower season skin."

Chou nodded in understanding. He was about to formulate a reply, before he was interrupted by Hayabusa, who greeted his childhood friend with seriousness.

"Hey." Kagura managed back, very aware of the awkwardness between the two of them.

"Listen, I need to talk to you." The assassin started, only to be cut off by the announcer calling for the heroes to be ready. He let out an annoyed sigh. "After the match?"

"After the match." Kagura agreed, noticing everyone else already walking towards their respective sides of the battle. Hayabusa nodded.

-

"Kagura, I'll take the middle lane, if you don't mind?" Gusion asked as they spawned in the match.

"Sure, I'll go top." The mage shrugged. She usually would have preferred mid too, but she didn't really mind.

"I'll come with." Chou offered, already running off towards the top lane.

Kagura gripped her umbrella tightly in her hands, choosing to blatantly ignore the look that Lesley was shooting her. _Let's just hope this is a quick game._

-

The match proceeded intensely.

Following Chou to the top lane, Kagura found herself facing off Hanabi and Terizla. The mage ignored the way Hanabi's eyes hardened upon seeing her, and instead focused on clearing the minions fast to unlock her ultimate quick.

She had to admit, she worked well with Chou. From moving to jungle and steal buffs, to clearing the minions quickly, both of them seemed to be in sync and needed little to no words exchanged to understand each others' intentions. When both of them had unlocked their ultimates, Kagura was pleasantly surprised to find that the enemy's fighter had yet to reach level four.

She locked eyes with Chou, before nodding. Receiving her cue, the fighter sent her a wicked grin before launching into attack. He sprang from the bushes unannounced, taking both Hanabi and Terizla by surprise - before successfully stunning the marksman, and kicking her towards their turret.

Kagura responded just as quickly, summoning her umbrella across the marksman. With the latter already having only half her health bar, as well as the turret firing shots at the marksman, Kagura decided to spare her ultimate and instead just teleported to where her umbrella was, stunning Hanabi and easily finishing her off with a final move of her umbrella.

"First blood!" The announcer called out, followed quickly by a "an enemy has been slained!"

Kagura glanced up at the scoreboard, grinning in pride as she realized that Gusion had attained a kill of his own. She flicked her wrist once again, this time towards Terizla - who was ruthlessly attacking Chou, now that the latter had just used his skills. She poked a few more times to get the fighter off of Chou's back, before performing her favorite combos to leave the enemy with less than a bar of health. She summoned her umbrella again, about to chase him and finish the fighter off, when a flash of blue caught her off guard.

Kagura flinched from the painful shot of magic. She turned and began to retreat, calling back her umbrella which stunned the enemy who got near her and gave her a tiny shield. She flung herself away from her umbrella back into her team's territory, before moving the umbrella towards the enemy - finally catching a glimpse of who had caused such a huge damage to her. She frowned when she saw that it was small feline, with a cute tail and even cuter appearance in general. His face didn't register in her mind, until... _Harith_ , she thought darkly, remembering the name list she had scanned through earlier.

_Must be a new mage,_ she quickly concluded, grateful to have escaped Harith's overpowered damage. She quickly recalled back to base to regain her health, all the while trying to gather her thoughts. Lesley appeared next to her, shooting her a concerned look. "You okay?" Her friend asked. "Harith?"

"Yeah." Kagura nodded. Glancing towards the map that currently showed Hayabusa attacking their turret on the bottom lane, she looked back at her friend. "Haya?"

Lesley sighed. "More like a pain in the ass. Gotta go, talk later." With that, the marksman entered her camouflage stage and sprinted back towards the bottom lane. Kagura huffed, gathering her wits and running back to her lane once again.

-

Kagura tightened her grip on her umbrella, noticing that the kill score between the two teams were even at 20-20. They were approaching the end of the game, and things were as intense as ever.

She had found herself at the mercy of the new mage (who was definitely going to appear in the meta hero list) a couple of times, and have been killed by said mage a couple of times. She was furious, yet at the same time overwhelmed by how incredibly powerful Harith was.

She used to be the queen of mages, with her being able to slow, stun, cause massive damage, and purify herself too. _It appeared that that title had been stolen._ Harith was on par, if not even better than whatever she was. He was far more mobile and could cause even more damage than she could. 

_She felt inferior._

At the moment, Kagura and Lesley were quickly trying to take down the second turret in the middle lane. All of a sudden, red magic soared around the turret. Before the two of them could react, Terizla appeared and he quickly unleashed his hammed ruthless on the two of them, trapping them in the penalty zone. Kagura quickly purified herself and sprang away from her umbrella, only to be met with Hanabi's Higanbana. She found herself immortalised and unable to move.

Luckily, Minotaur appeared in time. He smashes the ground in fury, knocking the enemies up before they could attack the two females of the team. With the effect of Hanabi's ultimate gone, Kagura quickly retreated, while keeping her umbrella on the offense. 

She didn't account for the kind of damage that Hanabi had accumulated, though. , Hanabi quickly took out Lesley (who cursed as she laid helplessly on the ground) before moving onto her next target - Gusion.

Kagura quickly maneuvered her umbrella towards the enemy's marksman instead, using her ultimate to slow her down. She didn't bother to teleport in to finish the marksman off, thinking that Gusion would do so on her behalf. Instead, Kagura watched in dismay as her team's assassin's dagger missed the marksman. Before Gusion could react, Hanabi had finished him off too. The petals that had continuously hit Kagura from Hanabi's basic attack, along with Terizla's skills had cost Kagura more than half of her health.

She hastily retreated, using her umbrella to slow the enemies down. However, Hanabi flickered toward her, determined to take her down. Kagura shut her eye, knowing that she was about to be finished. 

The finishing blow never came.

She reopened her eyes, only to see Chou running towards her. The fighter grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off in a run. She glanced back, noticing that Hanabi was definitely way further than she should have been - and realized that Chou had came in to kick the marksman away for her, even though his own health was way lower than hers.

A small smile made its way up her face. She ignored that announcer announcing that their tank, minotaur, had been killed by Harith. She also paid no attention to the fluttering in her chest when she realized what Chou had done for her. She instead chose to focus on their intertwined hands. With adrenaline pumping in her blood, she sped up in the direction of their base.

(She failed to notice the shadow that lingered in the bush as the ran past)

(Or how a pair of eyes merely watched the two of them run away)

(When a certain ninja could have easily killed the both of them)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright i gotta admit, the timeline of heroes/skins in this fic is quite messed up HAHAHAHA but i hope you guys will enjoy this story nonetheless! i'll be back to fix the timeline up after i'm done. i also hope this battle wasn't that confusing!
> 
> xoxo
> 
> (p.s: i'm a kagura main, if it wasn't obvious already)


	4. four

The both of them quickly reached their base to regain their health.

"They're at lord." Minotaur informed them gravely.

"On it." They replied in unison, before running off together again - this time, in the direction of Lord. Their teammates were not far behind, as they each respawned one by one.

With Kagura's retribution spell, they easily stole Lord - only to meet the wrath of Harith. Gusion took out Hanabi fairly easily, while the team together killed Hylos. They were caught off guard by Harith though, and with his dash and ultimate, he quickly took out everyone easily with the help of Terizla. 

"Enemy savage!" The announcer called out.

"Oh, well." Gusion sighed through the comms. 

"We have Lord, maybe he'll defend?" Chou joked. Kagura gave him a small smile, while they watched in dismay as Hayabusa - being the sneaky assassin that he was - was already in their base and attacking it.

-

They lost.

They gathered back at the loading lobby, the adrenaline from the match slowly being replaced by exhaustion. Lesley scoffed at their enemy team, who took to cheering loudly about their victory. She turned her back to them, using her body to block them from her teammates' view. "I think we did great." She stated as she glared at her team, daring any one of them to disagree.

None of them verbally did. Kagura almost jumped when she suddenly felt a light touch on her lower back. She turned, only to meet Gusion's eyes. "You okay?" He whispered, his hand now resting reassuringly on her shoulder. She managed a small smile back at him. "Yeah, it's not the first time any of us lost." He nodded, just as Kagura saw something whirl by behind him. She peeked past the mage assassin, only to see Hayabusa catch Hanabi from her jump - before pulling her into a hug. Both of them had huge grins, while their team continued to celebrate their win.

She looked away hastily.

"Damn it. We'll have a celebratory lunch too." Lesley declared, pulling Minotaur by the arm as she marched towards the cafeteria. Gusion followed suit, an amused smile on his face. Kagura hesitated, about to follow her room mate too when she felt a hand slip into hers. "You wanna go to the flower garden instead?" 

She let out a breath, feeling her shoulders still highly tensed and her hands still holding her umbrella rigidly. She nodded wordlessly.

Without another word, Chou easily steered her away from the crowd to the quiet peacefulness of her favorite place.

-

"So, what's up?" The fighter asked as they made their way into the garden.

Almost instantly, Kagura felt a lot lighter as she breathed in the fresh air. She'd felt too suffocated just now. She squatted down, sighing as she admired the pretty flowers. She glanced up. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Chou crossed his arms, his eyebrows raised. "Believe it or not, I've gotten to know you over the past few weeks. You have something on your mind, I can tell."

She frowned, choosing to avoid eye contact by moving over to pick up a watering can nearby. "You don't know me." She stated icily.

She could feel his gaze on her as she turned around to water the flowers, starting from her favorite peonies. 

"Ah, the defensive wall. What's next, you're gonna start avoiding everyone?" 

She paused, turning to look him dead in the eye. He almost flinched from her cold look - something he had never been on the receiving end of. "Don't act like you know me. We only just met."

He returned the glare just as intensely. "You and I both know I'm the only person who knows you the best right now."

Her glare faltered, replaced by a brief look of hurt.

Almost immediately, Chou regretted his words - he didn't mean to jab at her friendship with Hayabusa that was slowly breaking up. He spluttered, already about to make an apology - when her eyes turned icy cold once again. "I'd really like for you to leave right now, _Chou_." She spat out his name like she was disgusted by it, and the fighter couldn't help but to flinch this time.

"Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

He jumped out of the way just in time as her umbrella shot across the garden, spinning menacingly at the spot where he had been a few seconds ago. While there were spells that the healers, Estes and Rafaela, had casted such that all heroes would not actually be hurt in the battlefield (they would all be healed by the time the match ends), outside of the battlefield, every move would hurt the heroes as much as it would hurt a typical human.

If he hadn't had avoided her umbrella in time, he would have suffered the painful magic burns of it. He gasped at her in disbelief. "Kag, I could have been seriously hurt!" 

Her response was so soft he'd barely heard it. "Please, as if it's that powerful."

Almost all at once, his feelings of frustration and incredulity was replaced by concern. Realization dawned upon him as he finally understood what this was all about. "Kagura." He called gently, watching as she continued to face her back towards him.

"Hey." He grabbed onto her umbrella, ignoring the way his hand immediately burned like it was on fire, before making his way towards her. "Look at me."

He reached for her hand, moving to place the umbrella back into her hand. She instinctively place it over her shoulder, still looking at everywhere but his face. It shattered him to see her so insecure.

He moved, using his hand to gently tilt her chin such that she had no choice but to look at him. 

They locked eyes.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat things and say things like, 'Harith wasn't even that great, we both know you're way more powerful than him'." He started. Somewhere along the line, his heart had started to beat faster. He willed his mind to ignore the fact. "Because it's completely fine to feel inferior. It's alright to feel less worthy, or that you're not good enough, or that you've let the team down. Your feelings are valid," He emphasized. 

She shrugged, but waited for him to continue. He took it as a sign that he was going in the right direction. "But I also want you to know that, you're a lot more powerful than you think."

He ignored her scoff, instead choosing to use his hands to hold her in place - he wanted to shake her, to be honest, wake her up and let her see everything amazing about her that he sees. "You know I'm right. You've been on the meta hero list for years. That happens for a reason. You're a lot more than you think, you know."

"You're possibly the most wonderful person I've ever met." He continued, ignoring the blush on her cheeks that made her look _adorable_. "You're kind, hardworking, powerful - not to mention adorable, and absolutely stunning when you don't even know it."

"Alright, alright, you can stop now." She laughed, her blush even more prominent than ever.

Chou managed a goofy smile back, his heart beating erratically fast as he took in the sight of her smile. "I'm serious. It's impossible to not pay attention to you. You're amazing."

She made a noise of embarrassment - which the fighter laughed heartily at. 

"Fine, you win."

"If it's any help, I could ask some of the mages if they'll like to train with you? That way you can explore your powers further, maybe become even more powerful."

Kagura beamed at him. "That'll... be nice. Thank you."

He grinned back at her, his body moving as if on autopilot as he extended his arms to invite her into a hug. "Anytime."

She chuckled before returning the gesture. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, somewhat surprised by how their bodies seem to fit perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. 

He heard her sigh as she sunk into his warmth, appreciative of the simple gesture. In that moment, his arms squeezed a fraction tighter and she breathed more slowly, her body melting into his as every muscle lost its tension to the cool air. 

She felt at peace.

The two of them jumped apart when they suddenly heard a twig snap from nearby. As if only realizing how close the two of them had been standing, the fighter blushed, desperately hoping that she couldn't hear how fast and hard his heart was beating. Kagura moved her hands swiftly, summoning the umbrella towards the nearby bush to reveal the intruder.

-

Hayabusa cursed as a twig snapped from underneath his feet. As a shadow, he had learnt to be deadly silent in his movements, but lately he had been way off his A-game, especially after seeing the two of them embrace each other - it was something strange that he never expected to witness, and it threw him off greatly, for some reason.

He smiled sheepishly at the duo that he had been spying on, ignoring how Chou seemed to tense up immediately upon seeing him. "Hey."

"Right," Kagura recalled. "You wanted to talk?"

He nodded at her, before sending a withering look towards the fighter. The latter understood his intentions and with a huff, Chou was stalking out of the garden, leaving the two childhood friends alone.


	5. five

"So, what's up." Kagura played it casual, though her cheeks felt like it was on fire. It had been weeks since they last talked, and that, along with her revelation that she actually liked this boy, had her heart fluttering - she had no idea where this was about to go.

"How have you been?" The assassin asked in response, almost just as casually.

Catching the weird edge in his voice, she glanced up at him, her eyes sharp and critical. Something was up. If their years of friendship had taught her anything, it was that her friend's eyes were the most expressive of his emotions. Even when Hayabusa was wearing his mask (which he was, almost all the time - she could barely remember the last time she saw him without it), she could almost always tell how he was feeling by his blue orbs. 

At that moment, his eyes were flickering to anywhere by hers, and she was almost sure of the tell-tale sign of his hand twitching, that he was anxious. She couldn't help the curiosity that bubbled inside her as to what the cause of his anxiousness was.

"I'm fine." She replies just as coolly, while she called back her umbrella. Instantly, she felt his curious gaze on her. She cursed inwardly.

Just like how she knew him, he knew her as well. 

She would had laughed at their situation - two people who were once inseparable best friends, now reduced to strangers who knew each others' tells, yet completely unaware of what was going on in the other's life - if not for the intrusion of another stranger.

Her eyes trailed after Hanabi who moved breezily towards the two. She planted herself next to the assassin, cheerfully inviting him to a celebratory lunch.

Kagura glanced at him. He seemed to be about to protest, but Hanabi shot him a look the mage couldn't decipher, and that seemed to shut him up completely. He sent an apologetic look her way. "Another time, perhaps?"

"Yeah." Kagura muttered, deciding that this was definitely the most awkward interaction the two of them had ever had.

She watched the two of them began to leave, as a dull feeling began to settle in a stomach. She couldn't hide her surprise when she saw Hanabi turn and march back towards her.

The marksman wasted no time before speaking. "I'm just going to cut to the chase, Kagura. You and I both know how focused Haya is on taking out the former Shadow."

Kagura tried not to flinch at how she was using her nickname for him. "Yeah, and?"

Hanabi smiled sweetly at her. "So, you're never going to be his priority. It's time to end this pathetic crush of yours, isn't it?"

_Wow._ That sure did hit close to home. Kagura bristled, struggling to construct a response, but her mind was more focused on how the hell did she know about her crush? Was she that painfully obvious?

Hanabi beat her to it. She shot her a pitiful look. "You deserve someone who would move mountains for you - and make you his priority." Having said her piece, the marksman left, leaving a bewildered Kagura alone in garden.

-

[A week later]

"I've always trained alone. I don't know how to feel." Kagura admitted as Chou led her to a training room made specifically for mages.

"You'll be fine," The fighter reassured her. "Eudora's the nicest mage I've ever met - and she's one of the OGs. She'll help you out."

Kagura sighed, her umbrella clutched tightly in her hands. She returned the smile he was giving her, before pulling the door open and stepping inside. She slowly exhaled, taking in the scene before her eyes. 

She frowned.

"It's an empty room." She remarked, turning around to face Chou. He shrugged, his arm moving to rest on her shoulders. While she usually would have been annoyed that he was using her shorter frame as a shoulder rest, she found the gesture oddly comforting, in a familiar kind of way.

"Welcome!" A hyper voice chirped.

Kagura almost fell backwards, if not for a pair of strong arms that held her steady. She blinked, recognizing Lesley's brother who appeared before her.

"Harley!" She greeted, grateful for a (somewhat) familiar face. He grinned, tipping his hat off towards her.

"You might be wondering, where are all the equipment?" A feminine voice called out. Eudora revealed herself from behind the door. She floated gracefully towards the trio. Kagura couldn't help but to admire the older mage in respect. "Well, since us mages mainly control our powers through our minds, the administrators figured we'd do just fine with just a blank room filled with projectors to project any enemies in a 3D manner."

Eudora turned to her. "How do you usually train?"

"In the flower garden, by myself." 

"How do you plan on improving?"

Kagura gave a thoughtful look as she pondered for a moment. "The umbrella is said to have its own wisdom and life from hundreds of spirits in it. I hope to unlock that? So far I've only been controlling it with my own mind, but I've yet to let it attack on its own."

Eudora hummed in response, giving Harley a look that only the two of them could understand.

"I think it might be too soon for that, Eudora." Harley protested, just as the aforementioned mage began to make her way to the control room located on the second level.

"Nonsense. Stress works well for everyone."

Kagura exchanged confused glances with Chou. "What's going on?" She called out to the other two mages.

"I'm going to put you through a test. If it helps, you need to remember that everything that is going to happen next is just an illusion projected through the projectors. None of it is real." Eudora explained. "Now I need everyone to leave except her."

Kagura watched as her friends joined the mage on the upper floor. She held her breath with her eyes shut, rolling her shoulders back to relieve some of the tension.

On Eudora's cue, she reopened her eyes, only to find herself back at home.

"What in the wor-" Before she could complete her sentence, a masked man darted towards her. She dodged him with ease, summoning her umbrella to hit the stranger. Instantly, the projection of the man vanished.

Huh. Kagura picked up her umbrella. That wasn't so bad.

Seconds later, she realized she spoke too soon.

Before her, what seem to be hundreds of jungle monsters spawned from the ground. She gulped, silently reminding herself that these weren't real. It's just an illusion, they can't hurt you.

She attacked, using the moves that she was familiar with without a second thought. She quickly finished off many of the monsters that were close to her, but then they kept coming.

Endless waves of monsters emerged and continuously launched for her. She dodged, attacked, dodged, and attacked, repeatedly, but soon exhaustion began to sink in. She half-consciously heard Chou's cheers of encouragement from the upper level, but paid no mind to it as she continuously fended for herself.

As minutes passed by, she began to feel her movements getting slower. She flinched as she barely jumped out of the way of a monster that dashed across her, breathless and sweating profusely. She was definitely stressed out, with her mind whirling with thoughts on how to defend herself better.

That's when she felt it.

A sudden surge of power from her umbrella. For a moment, her umbrella shone in the brightest blue she had ever seen, and a ripple of water magic around it (that she had no idea where it came from) sent the monsters around it flying.

But as soon as it came, the powerful feeling she got disappeared. Her umbrella returned to its duller blue, and even as she commanded it to move, the damage it inflicted was nowhere close to what had just happened.

Thrown off by what she had just experienced, she failed to see the army of monsters behind her that launched for her. She noticed them just a second too late, and threw herself away just as the projections all completely disappeared at the last moment.

"What was that!" 

Her friends' voices seemed so far away as she struggled to comprehend what had just happened. She mindlessly retrieved her umbrella from a feet away, still trying to catch her breath just as her friends joined her back on the ground floor.

"Are you okay?" Chou was the first to ask. She nodded at him, awestruck by that glimpse of what she could be capable of.

"How do you feel?" Eudora questioned, a small smile on her face - that seemed to showcase pride.

"I think I just felt the powers of the Soryu Dragon." Kagura revealed, excitement shining in her eyes. "But I have no idea how I did that."

Eudora grinned at her. "That's fine. We have plenty of time to figure that out."

"Alright, now let's go get some food!" Harley hollered.

Kagura chuckled as she watched the shorter male disappear, leaving only his hat behind. _She couldn't wait to see what her powers had in store for her._


	6. six

"I would love it if you would just," Kagura gestured wildly at her room mate's sniper gun, "end my misery. Just shoot me."

Lesley rolled her eyes at her drama queen of a friend. "I know this situation sucks, but look on the bright side! You got Chou."

The mage stared at her friend.

Lesley threw her hands up in surrender. "...who might make the situation even more awkward, because you might have feelings for him too. Right. Sorry, I forgot."

Kagura sighed. She scooted over closer to her friend, wrapping an arm around the latter. "You okay? No offence, but you'd usually be over the moon about me being in this kind of situation. You're a sucker for love triangles - rectangles?" She shrugged. "Anyways, what's up?"

The marksman picked at her long hair mindlessly. "Gusion." She confessed, before rolling over into the embrace of her friend. "He got on the meta list."

"Are you kidding? That's amazing!" Kagura responded in excitement, before noticing how Lesley clearly did not share. "But?" She prompted.

Her friend sighed. "So." She corrected. "So he's been invited to a lot more ranked matches lately and we just haven't been seeing each other a lot lately." She paused. "I miss him."

"Aww." Kagura cooed, nudging her friend teasingly. Lesley ignored her antics, choosing to continue, "I mean, I'm so proud of him for making it! I just-" She sighed.

"Hey, it's fine. I'm sure he misses you too. He'll be asking you out soon, you mark my words." Kagura reassured her. Lesley smiled back appreciatively at her friend.

The moment was almost sweet and pure, until Lesley interrupted it. "So, about that match..."

-

Kagura grimaced. Beside her stood Belerick, _Hanabi, Hayabusa_ and _Chou_ , her teammates for the day. She glanced across to meet Gusion's eyes. The latter shot her a sympathetic look while she managed a small smile back, making a mental note to tell Gusion to talk to her room mate soon. Then, she eyed the rest of Gusion's teams, noting down who her enemies were for the round - namely Johnson, Odette, Terizla and Karrie. She winced at the notable combo of Johnson and Odette just as the announcer called for the heroes to make their way to their respective places.

With heavy steps, she followed behind her team to the Celestial Palace, where a much dreaded match will soon take place.

-

"Welcome to Mobile Legends!" The announcer called out, just as the heroes spawned at their respective places. Kagura could only watch as Hanabi immediately headed for the middle lane - that she usually went for. 

"Top lane together, again? We worked well the last time." Chou offered. Kagura returned his grin - seems like she wasn't the only one who thought they had good chemistry the last time. "Sure," she agreed.

The both of them made their way to the top lane. Kagura dully noted that her childhood friend made his way solo to the bottom one.

-

Yet again, the two of them had fun. At the moment, Chou was down to a third of his health. He stopped moving, shooting the white-haired mage a wink as he pretended to be afk. 

"Dude, what are you doing?" Kagura whispered harshly while she cleared the minions that were attacking the fighter. "You don't have your ultimate yet, it's not going to work."

Chou didn't reply her, choosing instead to stay rooted in his place. Kagura watched as his health went even lower with Odette's annoying passive. She used her umbrella to poke at the enemy's mage, hoping to get the latter off Chou's back before he died. Just as Chou was about to be finished off with the enemy's first skill, his ultimate unlocked in a timely fashion and he flickered over to Odette, effectively using his ultimate to kick her towards Kagura.

The mage responded quickly, stunning Odette before the latter could kill Chou and easily killing her off. Kagura eyed the fighter with a grin. She had to admit that she was impressed by his timing and execution. Chou shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just amazing like that."

She laughed, just as the announcer reported that Gusion had picked off Hanabi.

-

Kagura glanced up at the scoreboard, frowning at the 16-20 score that seemed to mock her team. With the deadly combo of Odette and Johnson, her team was finding it difficult to get leverage in team battles. She skipped towards the top lane where Hayabusa was getting chased. 

She noticed the movement in the bushes too late.

In a flash, daggers darted out towards her. She threw herself out in a dash away from the enemy, but it was a futile effort. Gusion had already marked her with his first skill. She sighed as the assassin quickly finished her off, leaving her lying on the ground while she waited to be respawned. 

A small smile appeared on her face though, when she realized that Hayabusa had shaken off the three enemies that were after him. As they had literally grown up together, she had seen him grow from a scrawny, little boy to the charismatic, skillful assassin that he was destined to be. Seeing him in action always made her proud of how far he had come.

Keeping her eyes on the map, she frowned as her childhood friend made a turn back towards the jungle near her, instead of recalling to regain his health. Hayabusa literally had only a centimeter of health left, what was he doing?

She watched as he searched through the bushes, before she realized what was going on. _He was going after Gusion_. She held in her breath as he found his target about to recall in the bushes. To give the guy credit, Gusion did respond quickly. His knifes immediately darted out towards the ninja, but before they could even touch Hayabusa, the latter was already executing his ultimate, neatly finishing Gusion off and leaving the him lying in a heap not far from Kagura.

Hayabusa then disappeared off just as quickly. Gusion groaned as he rolled over to make eye contact with the mage. "Remind me never to hurt you when Hayabusa's around." He muttered.

Kagura chuckled. "He's that aggressive even when I'm not around, trust me."

Gusion gave her a look that seemed to imply that she was dumb. "No, he isn't. He's only like that when he's protective of you."

She gave him an incredulous look of disbelief. 

"Don't believe me? I'm going to go for Hanabi next. You see for yourself if he goes after me as fiercely as he did for you."

Before she could reply, she respawned at her base, feeling confused by whatever point Gusion was trying to make. True enough, Gusion stayed true to his words. She watched on the map where Hanabi was fiercely pushing towers, before the assassin appeared out of nowhere and killed the marksman fairly easily. To her surprise, Hayabusa, who was just nearby stealing the enemy's buffs, paid the marksman no attention and merely continued on to acquire the buffs. _What the hell did that meant?_

She was so busy watching out for the situation that was happening across the map that she failed to notice the incoming Johnson that was coming her way. She dashed out of the way at the last moment, narrowing avoiding the crash - only to meet Odette's ultimate. She tried to get out of the range of the enemy mage's ultimate, but judging from how quick her health was dwindling down, there was no way she could make it.

Until, Odette's ultimate was suddenly stopped.

Kagura turned around to see that Chou had jumped in to knock Odette up, effectively stopping her Ultimate, but putting himself in danger as the enemy team jumped in to slain him. Kagura continued to make her way back to the base, her heart palpitating harshly against her chest as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. 

_Chou had just sacrificed himself for her._


	7. seven

They won. 

Kagura sighed as she made her way back to the match lobby. With the adrenaline from the match slowly wearing off, she was feeling more lethargic by the minute. "Good game, guys." Belerick stated, receiving appreciative smiles from his team. 

She turned around, wanting to thank Chou for saving her, only to find Lesley (where the hell did she come from?) pulling her into a hug. "You have a new skin!"

"What?" Kagura could barely make out, as the marksman's tight hug had squeezed all the remaining oxygen from her small frame.

"New skin." Lesley repeated, her eyes gleaming excitedly. She dodged her head down to whisper into her friend's ear, "and it's a matching one with Hayabusa."

Kagura's eyes widened. "No way."

Lesley squealed, clapping her hands in delight. "Come on, you have a photoshoot in like, an hour. Let's get you all dolled up and ready!"

The mage returned her enthusiastic smile. "Before that," she said in a playful tone, "there's something urgent you need to attend to." With that, she shoved the marksman in the direction of Gusion, grinning like a proud mother when her friend landed in the arms of the said assassin. 

-

"You know, if you took a picture, it'll last longer."

Hanabi watched as Hayabusa sighed at her retort. Her heart ached as she wondered if her comment would let him think of her as snobby, or irritating. She couldn't help it. Seeing him hopelessly in love with the white-haired mage since the beginning of time was making her irritated.

If he wasn't aware of his feelings for the mage, and Kagura wasn't about to make the first move, then Hanabi still had a shot, right? She laughed humorlessly in her mind. She was one of the best shadow ninjas, she had natural talent that far exceeded most of her peers. She knew how to stand her ground and attack in the most silent and deadly manners. Manipulating others to get what she wanted was another one of her abilities. She had always been told she was charming and a force to be reckoned with. She could probably get anyone to fall in love with her easily.

And yet, of all people, her heart decides to fall for the one shadow ninja that already had someone else in his heart. Fate really was cruel, huh.

She glanced towards Hayabusa next to her. They were at the photoshoot for Hayabusa and Kagura's matching (she rolled her eyes at the term) new summer festival skins. The administrators had decided that they wanted her at the set too, to look upset at the assassin lusting over the mage.

At least that was easy to do - it was exactly what she was doing, to be honest. And the cameras haven't even started rolling yet. Her blood boiled as she took in the sight of her crush resting his head on his hand, his eyes darting appreciatively at the mage - who she had to admit, looked absolutely stunning. 

It was silly of her to feel this upset. She had known that Hayabusa had had the hoots for Kagura since they were kids, even if he didn't know it himself. Despite acknowledging that this had been going on for far too long, that she should have been used to this feeling already, it still hurt. She opened her mouth, deciding that she was going to take the shot. She was going to tell him how she felt. If he doesn't reciprocate, which she knows he doesn't, she'll just live through the rejection and get over it. For her own good.

Before she could speak, though, Hayabusa interrupted her train of thoughts. "I know."

She frowned, taken aback. "What?"

"I know you have feelings for me."

She hated to admit it, but she blushed. She felt humiliated. Had she really been that obvious? She struggled to find words to respond - should she deny it? Or be honest about it?

Instead, before she could stop herself, she scoffed. "Yeah, as if you're the most observant guy on the planet." For goodness sake, this guy doesn't even realize he himself had the biggest crush on his childhood friend.

He shot her a confused look.

Almost instantly, the wheels in her head started turning. If he refuses to admit that he has feelings for Kagura, then maybe...

"Why don't you try dating me?" She looked at him, challenge evident in her eyes. "It's not like you have anyone else in mind, do you?"

She watched as he hesitated. She leaned in towards him, the corners of her mouth quirked up in a smirk. "There's no harm in trying." 

She had to remind herself to stay composed as she immediately cast away the feeling of hurt when she saw him glance towards the mage once again.

"Fine." He drawled out. "No harm in trying." He repeated under his breath.

Hanabi smiled. "Well, then, since we're a couple now..." She leaned in more into his space, making sure that he saw her gaze flicker towards his lips.

-

Kagura laughed as she observed the goldfish in the little plastic carrier she had been given. The fish was absolutely adorable, and she couldn't help but to fawn over it as she held it in her hand. In this new color scheme that she was given, she felt incredibly ecstatic. It's been ages since her last skin, and the fact that this skin was a matching one with her childhood friend made it even better.

She glanced over to the said childhood friend, wanting to share her feelings of excitement with him, when she saw him converse with Hanabi. She pushed down the feelings of disappointment bubbling inside of her, choosing instead to perk up at hearing someone call her name from behind.

She turned around to meet Chou. "Hey!" She greeted cheerfully, careful not to jolt the poor goldfish too much.

"How are you feeling?" The fighter asked, clearly excited for her new skin for her. Kagura's heart warmed - she'll always be grateful towards Chou for constantly being there for her and supporting her in so many ways. He made her feel a sense of security, which she enjoyed.

"Ecstatic." She squealed, throwing her arms around him. He chuckled, returning the hug instinctively, before pulling apart. "You talked to Hayabusa yet? I know you're a little upset that you guys drifted apart, but this event gives you guys all the reason to talk." 

Kagura sighed, averting her gaze. She turned, about to point out the fact that Hanabi was there too, which meant that Hayabusa and her wouldn't have the private time together that she missed. Instead, she felt Chou quickly pull her back towards him, engulfing her in a tight hug. She struggled a little, wanting to show Hanabi's presence, but the fighter merely held her even more strongly, not letting her move even an inch.

It was as if he was protecting her from something.

"Listen," Chou spoke out, his voice tense for whatever reason. "I know this might not be the best timing, but I really like you. I think you deserve someone who would make you their priority, and I believe I can do that." He let out a breath slowly. "Would you do the honors of being my girlfriend?"

"What?" Kagura was confused. She struggled once again. This time, he yielded. When she turned around, she found her self watching Hayabusa and Hanabi lean in - for a kiss, presumably. Her insides crawled with discomfort as she took in the scene. Then, she felt calloused hands grab hers.

_Someone who would make her their priority._

She recalled Hanabi's words from the other day. That was something Hayabusa couldn't do. She glanced up into the fighter's eyes.

"Yeah, Chou. I'd like to be your girlfriend."


	8. eight

"So..." Lesley started, her arms crossed as she stared at her room mate threateningly. "You want to tell me what this is about? Or do I have to force it out of you?" She made a show out of reloading her sniper gun and aiming it at the mage.

Kagura shot her a small smile as her eyes caught sight of the rose that lay on the counter behind the marksman. "So... I'm kind of dating Chou, now?"

Lesley let out a gasp, her hand raised to cover her mouth. She squealed, jumping animatedly. "Since when? Why was I not informed?"

"A few weeks ago? We haven't actually gone around announcing our relationship." Kagura shrugged. "Besides, we're doing the exact same things that we did as friends." She paused, her eyes gleaming as she raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Except with more cuddling, hugging, and maybe even kissing here and there?"

Lesley stared at her.

Kagura gulped. A silent Lesley was never a good sign.

"Are. You. Kidding. Me." The marksman drew out. "I can't believe you didn't tell me the news immediately! I'm so happy for you." Putting down her weapon gently on the counter top beside the rose, she lunged for her friend, toppling the latter over onto the bed and knocking Kagura's breath out of her.

Kagura weakly hugged her friend back. "You were busy with your own issues with Gusion, I didn't want to overload you with the details." She giggled as Lesley's long hair brushed against her cheeks. "And honestly? I don't even know how I feel about the relationship yet myself." She decided not to let her friend know that she was somewhat disappointed that Chou had already forgotten that her favorite flowers were peonies, not roses. 

Lesley hummed in understanding. "You'll figure it out eventually, I have faith in you." She detached herself from the mage, standing to retrieve the rose for her. "Besides, I believe that this note here is asking for you to be at the garden?" 

She laughed as Kagura got up to snatch the rose and note away from her. The mage's eyes widened and she cursed under her breath as she realized she was already ten minutes late for her supposed date with Chou. Rushing to make herself look presentable, she was out of the door within minutes and heading for the garden.

-

Kagura frowned, confused, when she arrived at the garden only to find Chou nowhere in sight. Wandering about, she mindlessly admired the flowers, surprised to find a new collection of flowers right in the middle of the garden.

The new flowers were huge in size, almost towering above the mage. She had to admit, they were pretty. She sighed, leaning in to breathe in the scent of the strange flowers that she had never seen before. Immediately after she had inhaled it in did it hit her - that was definitely not how flowers smelled like.

She staggered backwards, almost losing her balance. The world spun around her as she struggled to regain footing, only to feel herself fall forward onto the ground. As if all the strength in her body were drained from her, she could barely even make out a soft "help" before her eyes were rolling behind and she was plunged into darkness. In the darkness, her mind uselessly supplied, 'chloroform'.

-

Hanabi grinned behind her mask. Just like every other day, she was enjoying her training with Hayabusa - her boyfriend, now. They dodged and attacked each other swiftly and graciously, as though they were dancing. It never failed to amaze her that Hayabusa was the only shadow ninja that could stand his own against her.

It was probably one of the many factors that led her to like him so much. Spotting an open spot in Hayabusa's stance, Hanabi took the opportunity and struck, effectively knocking him to the ground. She went down after him, landing on top of him with her Higanbana against his neck. He groaned in defeat. She laughed, wanting to turn the moment into a more intimate one by kissing him, when she got interrupted by Chou.

An absolutely worried Chou.

The fighter sprinted towards the two ninjas, with an item that Hanabi couldn't recognize in his hand. It was only after he got near that she realized that the item looked like a part of the signature blue clothing that Kagura always wore. Her blood ran cold at the implication of the item.

"She's gone." Chou stated as he glared fiercely at Hayabusa. The latter frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Kagura. She disappeared." The fighter passed the item over, gruffly continuing. "I think someone took her. I found this note at the garden."

Chou watched as the assassin quickly scanned over the messy handwriting on a piece of ripped out notebook paper. He sighed as he ran through the words in his mind again. You won't touch me when I have her, right? xoxo - h. What the hell did that meant?

To his surprise, Hayabusa seemed to understand immediately. "Hanzo." He stated, locking eyes with Hanabi. "He took her."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "No way."

"It's most likely," Hayabusa argued. "He knew we were both from the Scarlet Shadow, here to seek revenge on the former Shadow. He's using her as protection so that we won't recklessly attack him."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed into slits. That did make perfect sense.

"Would anyone like to fill me in?" Chou asked in exasperation, still confused by the situation. He had no idea what the two were talking about. Hayabusa glanced over at him, quickly explaining, "Hanzo was a Shadow that betrayed our clan years ago. The both of us have the same goal of killing him."

Hanabi nodded. "That's why we have been spending so much time training together. We found out that he was near in the Land of Dawn and wanted to make sure we were at our best capabilities to defeat him."

"But why didn't you guys just kill him already, since you guys already knew he was here?" Puzzlement was obvious on the fighter's face.

"We don't know how powerful he is." Hanabi helpfully supplied. "Last we heard, he singlehandedly killed all the foremost elite ninjas that our clan sent after him. We wanted to gauge if he was still as powerful as before, before we make any move."

Chou furrowed his eyebrows, finally comprehending the situation. He shifted his gaze towards Hayabusa. "So Kagura getting kidnapped is basically your fault."

Hayabusa frowned as the accusation. "What?"

"You said it yourself, Hanzo is your enemy, not Kagura's. The only reason why he took her was because of her connection to you. If you guys had acted sooner and attacked him sooner, she wouldn't have been in danger right now." Chou spat fiercely, his anger - coupled with worry - evident as he glared at the assassin.

Hayabusa struggled to find a response.

Beside him, Hanabi bristled. "Now is not the time to be pointing fingers, Chou. We should be working together to find him and take him out once and for all." She cast a glance at her boyfriend, who remained silent.

"You guys work on that yourselves. My priority is to find and save Kagura." With that, the fighter was making his way out, leaving the two behind.

Hanabi sighed, as she spotted the signs of self-blame in the assassin's eyes. "It's not your fault. None of us could have seen this coming, much less prevented it."

She lifted his chin such that he had no choice but to look at her. "All we can do now is to get her." She kissed him softly on the lips, relieved that the action seemed to relieve some of the tension in his body. 

She decided right there and then, that no matter how much she disliked the mage, she was sure as hell going to save her, for Hayabusa's sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost at the end, kids. thank u all for reading <3


	9. nine

Kagura winced at the pounding in her head as she slowly came to. She blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of where she was and how she got here. Her mind drew a blank, and she could only look around to try to get clues about her whereabouts.

It seemed to be an abandoned warehouse, judging from the lack of lights in the large space. She tried to move her hands, only to find that they were bind harshly together behind her. And that she was tied to a chair. She frowned.

Inhaling sharply and trying to ignore the deafening pounding of her headache (had she hit her head somehow?), she moved her fingers swiftly, trying to feel for the presence of her umbrella. Instantly, the magic link between her and her weapon was formed and she exhaled a sigh of relief at the familiar feeling of the umbrella responding to her.

She called her umbrella towards her, using the magic burns of the umbrella to break out of the ropes that tied her hands together. She jumped at the sudden noise from behind her.

"Relax, I don't want to hurt you."

She waited as the figure emerged from the darkness, revealing himself to be Hanzo. She flinched when he took a step towards her. He grinned, almost wickedly. "I can see why Hayabusa is heads over heels for you. You're delicate." He cups her face gently, pushing her chin up so that she was looking at him straight in the eye. Instantly, she shoved her head backwards to get herself out of his uncomfortable touch. "But feisty." He tsked.

He moved towards her, close enough that she stilled immediately, discomfort gnawing at her as his face was mere centimeters away. He smiled sweetly at her, before reaching behind her. She gasped when she felt him rip her umbrella away from her.

She watched, slightly fascinated but mostly afraid, as he withstood the burns of the umbrella like it was nothing. He held out the umbrella, observing it with interest. "I apologize for binding you to the chair in the first place." He drawls. "Not the best away to make a first impression, I must admit." He turned to lock his eyes with her.

"What," She cleared her throat before continuing, "do you even want me here for?"

He shrugged. He eyed the red on his skin from how the umbrella was burning him, and yet did not make any move to let go of the weapon. "Hayabusa is after me. And everyone knows how much he cares for you. Might as well make use of you to make sure I don't get too seriously hurt." He laughed, almost maniacally. "Though, I doubt that would happen. I've reached the pinnacle of ninjutsu and have mastered the Ame no Habakiri."

Kagura guessed that the latter was reference to the huge sword thing that he carried about in his other hand. He dropped the umbrella to the ground, before moving to kiss her forehead. She winced at the feeling as he whispered into her ear, "be good and stay here, alright? I'm just going to go make sure Hayabusa is no longer a threat to me."

He straightened, ready to leave. "If I'm feeling it, I'll even be nice enough to help you get rid of that Hanabi girl too." He glanced at her, his lips quirked up in the beginning of a smirk. "I assume you're not too happy that they're currently dating, yes?" He handed her her umbrella back. She eyed at the burns on his hand that had to be at least as painful as a second degree burn. "In fact, we'd make a pretty good team. You have the powerful magic of the yin and yang, We'd be unstoppable together." He sighed. 

"I'll never work with you." She spat, put off by even the idea of it. "Don't worry, you've already helped enough by being the bait." He winked. She bristled as she watched him leave.

Once he was gone, she immediately stood up, her umbrella in hand. She had to stop him before Hayabusa got here, somehow. She didn't account for how her vision would swim once she got up, though. Instantly, she swayed, almost losing her balance as she fought to regain clarity in her mind. She definitely hit her head somehow. 

Once she steadied herself, she realized another pounding problem. She didn't know how she failed to notice them earlier, but the place was swarmed with monsters. They must have came out when she stood up. She gripped her umbrella tightly in her hands, determination in her hardened eyes.

As if sensing that she wasn't backing down, the monsters started to inch menacingly towards her. When they're less than a safe distance away, she flung her umbrella at them, effectively taking out a few of them in just one move. She moved her head slowly, careful to not let her surroundings spin around her, while she took in how many of them she had to handle.

There was at least a hundred of them. It was an army. She inhaled. Pretend it's a stimulation by Eudora. She told herself, moving her umbrella again to take out another monster. Soon enough, they were already advancing towards her and were clawing at her, and she had to act fast.

She began executing different combos as she moved about, utilizing all the space that she had and ignoring that heavy pounding of her head. Focus, focus. She reminded herself, as she closed her eyes to regain clarity of her mind. She easily took out waves after waves of the monsters, until she realized that the monsters were definitely respawning somewhere.

And each time they did, they came back bigger, stronger, and faster. There was no way she could keep up with this.

Nonetheless, she fought hard, summoning her umbrella faster and faster. One monster got too close for comfort and she dashed away, only to get clawed by another. She gasped at the pain as blood oozed out from her left thigh. Ignoring the throbbing in her head and the pain in her leg, she carried on fighting like she never did before.

Then, it happened. One moment, she seemed to be losing in the battle against the monsters, and the next, a huge splash of water waves rippled from her, throwing all the nearby monsters away. She didn't have time to react to this sudden surge of power, and instead carried on fighting.

She summoned her umbrella towards another nearby monster. Except, this time, it wasn't just her umbrella that heeded her command. She watched, amazed, as a huge water dragon moved towards the monster as well, and easily killed the monster. 

The Soryu Dragon. 

And she was in command of it.

She smiled, feeling the most powerful that she had ever been. She moved one with the dragon, and their combined powers easily took out the remaining monsters. Pretty soon, she found the source that respawned that monsters and with just a flick of her fingers, the Soryu Dragon had destroyed it completely.

She exhaled when it was over, finally catching her breath. The dragon beamed at her, and she couldn't help but to return the smile. Until, she noticed too late the dark figured that appeared behind the dragon.

Hanzo pierced his heavy sword through the dragon, grinning in satisfaction as the animal cried in pain. He doesn't understand how the dragon could feel the pain - considering it was made of water - but it was rewarding, nevertheless, to watch the creature flinch harshly as it went down.

"No!" The mage cried in dismay, watching as the dragon flopped lifelessly onto the ground, before disintegrating into a million water droplets. She glared at Hanzo fiercely, anger in her eyes. Her insides burned with rage, and she wanted him to feel pain.

She summoned her umbrella towards him, wanting him to pay for what he did. But he didn't even flinch as the umbrella came into contact with him. He just grinned mockingly. "Aw, babe. I thought we had something special." He laughed as she visibly recoiled from the nickname, before shrugging. "I guess not." Without warning, he threw his sword towards her.

She reacted a second too late. She dashed out of the way, but the tip of his weapon still sliced open the skin in her torso. She cried in pain, immediately dropping to her knees as the pain screamed to be felt. Her hand moved to place pressure on it, and she could only watch in dismay as her hand was instantly coated with blood. Her blood.

Her vision swam.

Guess she wasn't making it out of here, after all.


End file.
